Christopher Smith

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U.S. Representative

Christopher Smith (R)

400380.jpeg

NJ-04
Positions
Leadership: No leadership position
Committees: House Committee on Foreign Affairs
(subcommittees and past assignments)
Next election: Nov. 6, 2012

Primary challenge: Yes

Incumbent running: Yes

2012 candidates for NJ-04

Confirmed: Brian Froelich, Terrence McGowan, Christopher Smith
Possible: None so far
Out: None so far
(more info & editing for NJ-04)
On the Web
Official website


Christopher Henry Smith, a Republican, has represented the Fourth Congressional District of New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1980.

Contents

Record and controversies

Congressional scorecards

Click through the score to see the records of other members of Congress and full descriptions of the individual votes.

Want to see someone else's scorecard added to the list? You can do it!

Organization 2007 Scorecard
Score - Agree ratio 		2008 Scorecard
Score - Agree ratio
American Civil Liberties Union not avail. not avail.
American Conservative Union 44 - 11/25 not avail.
AFSCME not avail. not avail.
Americans for Democratic Action 55 - 11/20 65 - 13/20
Club for Growth not avail. not avail.
Drum Major Institute not avail. not avail.
Family Research Council not avail. not avail.
Information Technology Industry Council not avail. not avail.
League of Conservation Voters not avail. not avail.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People not avail. not avail.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce 70 - 14/20 not avail.


Iraq War

Smith voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 that started the Iraq War.[1]

For more information see the chart of U.S. House of Representatives votes on the Iraq War.

Environmental record

For more information on environmental legislation, see the Energy and Environment Policy Portal

Bio

Background

Smith was born March 4, 1953 in Rahway, New Jersey. The former owner of a sporting goods company, first ran for Congress in 1978, but was routed by Democratic incumbent Frank Thompson, Jr.

In 1980, however, Thompson was ensnared in the Abscam scandal, and Smith ran against him again. This was enough to sweep Smith into office. He faced a tough challenge for a second term, but hasn't faced a well-funded opponent since then.

Congressional Career

Smith's voting record is moderate, aside from a strong stance against abortion. He is the Co-Chairman of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus. In a January 22, 2004 press release [1] Smith stated, "Americans want the abortion holocaust to end," and referred to abortion as "child slaughter."

Unlike most Republicans, Smith has strong ties to organized labor. Following representation from many Irish-Americans, Smith wrote legislation prohibiting the Royal Ulster Constabulary from training in the United States because of alleged humans rights abuses. Critics of Smith's law state that if the Royal Ulster Constabulary were provided with American training, human rights abuses could have been avoided. Nonetheless, in December 2001 the Bush administration declared the Police Service of Northern Ireland (which replaced the RUC) met reasonable human rights standards, and the prohibition was lifted. Smith has spoken critically of the British Inquiries Act 2005, which he believes will allow the British government to prevent effective inquiries into British army collusion with unionist paramilitaries in Ireland.

In 2004, Smith easily defeated Democrat Amy Vasquez for his 13th 2-year term.

In 1982, Smith faced his toughest reelection campaign when he was challenged by former New Jersey State Senate President Joseph P. Merlino. At the end of one of their debates, Smith approached Merlino to exchange pleasantries, Merlino was quoted as saying "Beat it, kid." Smith won the election with 53% of the vote.[2]

2006 elections

In 2006, the Democrats nominated Carol E. Gay to face Smith in his November 2006 bid for reelection. (See U.S. congressional elections in 2006) [3] Smith retained his seat.

Money in politics

This section contains links to – and feeds from – money in politics databases. For specific controversies, see this article's record and controversies section.

Top Contributors to during the 2008 Election Cycle
DonorAmount (US Dollars)
National Beer Wholesalers Assn$ 10,000
Operating Engineers Union$ 10,000
Sn Servicing Corp$ 10,000
NorPAC$ 9,675
National Air Traffic Controllers Assn$ 9,500
Carpenters & Joiners Union$ 7,500
Teamsters Union$ 7,500
National Assn of Realtors$ 7,000
Plumbers/Pipefitters Union$ 6,500
Right to Life$ 6,000
Source: The Center for Responsive Politics' www.OpenSecrets.org site.
Note: Contributions are not from the organizations themselves, but are rather from
the organization's PAC, employees or owners. Totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.
Links to more campaign contribution information for Christopher Smith
from the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org site.
Fundraising profile: 2008 election cycle Career totals
Top contributors by organization/corporation: 2008 election cycle Career totals
Top contributors by industry: 2008 election cycle Career totals


Committees and Affiliations

Committees

Committees in the 110th Congress (2007-2008)

Committee assignments in the 109th Congress (2005-2006)

Coalitions and Caucuses

  • Co-Chair, Coalition for Autism Research and Education (CARE)
  • Chair, Commision on Security and Cooperation in Europe
  • Co-Chair, Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease
  • Co-Chairman, House Pro-Life Caucus
  • Congressional Automotive Caucus
  • Congressional Coastal Caucus
  • Congressional Fire Services Caucus
  • Congressional Human Rights Caucus
  • Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus
  • Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus
  • Minor Leauge Baseball Caucus
  • Older Americans Caucus

Boards and other Affiliations

  • New Jersey Right to Life Committee, Inc. -- Executive Director, 1976-1978

More Background Data

Wikipedia also has an article on Christopher Smith. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.

Contact

DC office
  • 2373 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
    Ph: 202-225-3765 Fax: 202-225-7768
    Webform email
District offices
  • 1540 Kuser Road, Suite A-9, Hamilton, NJ 08619
    Ph: 609-585-7878, 609-585-3650 Fax: (none entered)
  • 108 Lacey Road, Suite 38A, Whitting Shopping Center, Whiting, NJ 08759
    Ph: 732-350-2300 Fax: (none entered)
On the Web
Campaign office
  • No campaign website entered.
  • No campaign webform email entered.
  • No campaign office information entered.

Articles and resources

Resources

See also

Local blogs and discussion sites


Semantic data (Edit data)

Retrieved from "http://www.opencongress.org/wiki/Christopher_Smith"
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